Benefits’ use as effective recruitment and retention tools remain the top reasons why employers offer benefits for the 10th consecutive year.
In 2004, when the inaugural Benefits Research was published, two-thirds (66%) of respondents said benefits were an effective recruitment tool, while 64% said they helped to support staff retention.
This year, 83% and 84%, respectively, said the same, according to The Benefits Research 2014, which surveyed 256 respondents in March 2014.
Over the past decade, other reasons behind employers’ decisions to offer benefits have climbed the leaderboard. This year, the role of benefits in supporting employee health and wellbeing appears in third place, just as it did in 2013.
Other consistently popular reasons why employers offer benefits include their role in supporting the employer brand and because their industry or regional competitors do.
However, some of the reasons why employers offer benefits have lost favour over the years. For example, the proportion of employers that say they offer benefits because they are good value for money stands at 26%, which is down from 64% in 2009, 50% in 2011 and 34% in 2013.
